Part of a Peace Group? Might Want to Take a Look Around...

Undercover Maryland state troopers infiltrated three groups advocating peace and protesting the death penalty  attending meetings and sending reports on their activities to U.S. intelligence and military agencies, according to documents released Thursday.

The documents show the activities occurred from at least March 2005 to May 2006 and that officers used false names, which the documents referred to as "covert identities"  to open e-mail accounts to receive messages from the groups...

The [targeted] activist was identified as Max Obuszewski. His "primary crime" was entered into the database as "terrorism - anti govern(ment)." His "secondary crime" was listed as "terrorism - anti-war protestors."...

The documents, which include intelligence reports and printouts from the database, show that several undercover officers from the state police's Homeland Security and Intelligence Division attended meetings of three groups: Mr. Obuszewski's group; the Coalition to End the Death Penalty; and the Committee to Save Vernon Evans, a convicted murderer who was slated for execution.

The documents show at least 288 hours of surveillance over the 14-month period. The undercover officers attended at least 20 organizing meetings at community halls and churches and a dozen rallies against the death penalty, including several at the state's SuperMax jail in Baltimore.

Though everything the activists planned was peaceful and lawful, reports UPI, "information about the protesters and their activities was sent to seven agencies, including the National Security Agency and an unnamed military intelligence official."